Al QAEDA PLANNER OF LONDON BOMBS DIES

An al-Qaeda figure who helped plan the 2005 subway and bus bombings in London and a plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic has died, US counter-terrorism officials said Wednesday.

"We have reason to believe that Abu Obaidah al-Masri is dead," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said al-Masri operated from the tribal areas along the Afghan-Pakistani border and that is where he is presumed to have died. Another official said he died of hepatitis, probably a couple of months ago.